IRAQI LETTER is a blog dedicated to news reports and viewpoints of Iraqi democrats and Left activists. It endeavours to cover important events and relevant activities of Iraqi democratic groups inside Iraq and abroad.
IRAQI LETTER hopes to contribute to a better understanding of the current complex and difficult situation in Iraq, and the multifaceted struggle of Iraqi democrats for a free, fully sovereign, unified, democratic and federal Iraq.

Friday, 18 January 2013

All efforts are needed to defuse the current crisis

and avert the dangers of sectarian strife

The repercussions of the recent political crisis, sparked by the arrest of
guards of the Iraqi Finance Minister, are continuing on various political and
popular levels, with the potential of further complication and deterioration.
This poses serious dangers threatening civil peace and the national fabric of
the country. This crisis is a new episode, that is more dangerous, in the
series of successive crises produced by the regime of sectarian-ethnic
power-sharing and its attendant conflicts and disputes among the ruling forces to
divide up political power and its spoils, the corruption plaguing the state and
its institutions, and the terrible failure in the provision of basic services
and the prerequisites of a decent living for broad sections of our people.

More than ten days ago demonstrations
began in Anbar province and have spread in recent days to the provinces of
Nineveh and Salahuddin, raising slogans and making several demands that are
legitimate, such as the release of innocent detainees and prisoners, putting an
end to shameful practices and flagrant violations of the fundamental rights
guaranteed by the Constitution that are committed in prisons and detention
centres against detainees, particularly women, and calling for firmly punishing
the perpetrators. These demonstrations and their broad demands have also
demonstrated the depth of the gap that separates citizens from the federal
government and their local governments.

But alongside the moderate discourse
and exercising the right to peaceful demonstration and protest guaranteed by
the Constitution, and the legitimate demands which our party supports and calls
for responding to them speedily, there are elements which harbor ill intentions
for our country, inside and outside Iraq, that aim ​​to exploit the sentiments
of discontent among the people and direct them to serve their suspicious
objectives by trying to push the peaceful protests and demonstrations along
narrow and fanatic sectarian and nationalist directions and to promote symbols
and slogans drawn from the legacy of dictatorship and tyranny. Voices of dark
forces connected to the former dictatorial regime were also raised recently,
striving to militarize the demonstrations and calling for finishing off the
political process.

Undoubtedly solving the country's
problems cannot be achieved by clinging to and insisting on the positions that
proved to be wrong and that failed in the practice and policy of ruling blocs.
These blocs and their leaderships, first and foremost those responsible for the
administration of the country, bear the primary responsibility for taking practical
and speedy steps and measures to implement what is legitimate and possible among
the demands in order to contain the crisis and vent the tensions, and to search
seriously for ways out of the real dangers threatening the country whose ill
effects cannot be averted through underestimating or disregarding them and
leaving things to be dealt with in a spontaneous manner.

The time factor is important and
decisive in dealing with what the country is facing. We warn against going too
far and efforts aimed at procrastination, or threatening the use of force which
will only make matters worse and more complex, as this would open the door to
unforeseen consequences.

It is a time for serious and
responsible action, rather than issuing statements and counter-statements which
pour oil on the fire and further complicate the scene.

What is needed now and as soon as possible
is to begin a serious dialogue and put forward bold initiatives that are commensurate
with the critical time through which our country is passing. Efforts should be
made to defuse the crisis, to work for calm and responsible dialogue, to
respond to the just and legitimate demands of the people, both those concerning
the parliament or the government, and to deny hostile elements of all hues the
opportunity to exploit the situation.

Our Party calls upon all the patriotic
forces and figures and civil society organizations, and all those among our
people who are keen to prevent the country from being dragged by advocates of
sectarian strife and fragmentation of national unity, to join efforts to press the
influential forces to defuse the crisis and come together in a broad national
conference that undertakes a review of the political process which is in crisis
and produces solutions that would restore the political process to its sound
track. Meanwhile, our previous call for early elections retains its validity,
on the condition that all its prerequisites are met, including legislations
guaranteeing the integrity of the electoral process in all its components and
creating an atmosphere free of tension and stress.